ReviewInternational journal of cancer2020
In search of definitions: Cancer-associated fibroblasts and their markers.
Review in International journal of cancer, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT07215182 ([68Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT for Response Evaluation During Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Malignant Melanoma), which is not on this map. Cited by 476 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
[68Ga]Ga-FAPI PET/CT for Response Evaluation During Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy in Malignant Melanoma
Who cites it
476 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 722 citations in OpenAlex.
- Therapeutic potential of FAPI RLT in oncology: A systematic review.Theranostics · 2025Pooled it
- Cancer-associated fibroblasts and their prognostic role in colorectal cancer: review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in oncology · 2025Pooled it
- Artificial intelligence-powered spatial analysis of tumor microenvironment in patients with non-small cell lung cancer with acquired resistance to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor.Journal for immunotherapy of cancer · 2025Trial
- Extracellular payload release from non-internalizing antibody-drug conjugates: mechanisms and linker technologies.Drug delivery · 2026Review
- Integrated scRNA-Seq and Spatial Transcriptomics Reveal CHPF and GPC1 as Markers of Cancer-Associated Fibroblast-Dominant Domains in Colorectal Cancer.Cancer medicine · 2026Article
- Metabolic heterogeneity and functional diversity of cancer-associated fibroblasts in gastric cancer (Review).Oncology letters · 2026Review
- Targeting cancer-associated fibroblasts: therapeutic strategies, translational challenges, and future perspectives.Journal of hematology & oncology · 2026Review
- FAP expression in deep and superficial endometriosis: Association with MRI and transvaginal ultrasound visibility.European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Clinical Evaluation of [European journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Brain metastasis-associated fibroblasts shape the tumour microenvironment to enhance cancer cell invasion.Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Generalizable AI predicts immunotherapy outcomes across cancers and treatments.Nature medicine · 2026Article
- The value ofEuropean journal of nuclear medicine and molecular imaging · 2026Article
- Unraveling the roles of fibroblast activation protein‑positive cancer‑associated fibroblasts in cancer: From mechanisms to therapy (Review).International journal of oncology · 2026Review
- Article
- Label-Free Monitoring of Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Activation Using NAD(P)H Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging.Chembiochem : a European journal of chemical biology · 2026Article
- MYCN-driven metabolic remodelling of the tumour microenvironment in neuroblastoma: implications for stromal biology and CAF heterogeneity.Cancer metastasis reviews · 2026Review
- Location matters: Spatial-dependent effects of myofibroblasts modulate survival in breast cancer.iScience · 2026Article
- BRAF Inhibition-Associated Nuclear Remodeling is Linked to Cancer-Associated Fibroblast Activation.Cancer research communications · 2026Article
- Cancer-associated fibroblasts in thyroid cancer stroma correlate with tumour progression and desmoplasia: a histopathological study.Thyroid research · 2026Article
- Article
416 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The tumor microenvironment has been identified as one of the driving factors of tumor progression and invasion. Inside this microenvironment, cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), a type of perpetually activated fibroblasts, have been implicated to have a strong tumor-modulating effect and play a key role in areas such as drug resistance. Identification of CAFs has typically been carried based on the expression of various "CAF markers", such as fibroblast activation protein alpha (FAP) and alpha smooth muscle actin (αSMA), which separates them from the larger pool of fibroblasts present in the body. However, as outlined in this Review, the expression of various commonly used fibroblast markers is extremely heterogeneous and varies strongly between different CAF subpopulations. As such, novel selection methods based on cellular function, as well as further characterizing research, are vital for the standardization of CAF identification in order to improve the cross-applicability of different research studies in the field. The aim of this review is to give a thorough overview of the commonly used fibroblast markers in the field and their various strengths and, more importantly, their weaknesses, as well as to highlight potential future avenues for CAF identification and targeting.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.